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AHL MVP Goes to Conacher

The American Hockey League announced today that left wing Cory Conacher of the Norfolk Admirals has been named the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHLâ€™s most valuable player for the 2011-12 season, as voted by AHL coaches, players and media in each of the leagueâ€™s 30 member cities.

Conacher becomes the fourth rookie to win the award since it was first presented in 1947-48, joining Bill Hicke (1958-59), Pelle Lindbergh (1980-81) and Stephan Lebeau (1988-89).

Conacher ranks second in the entire AHL with 35 goals and 75 points, tied for second with 14 power-play goals and tied for third with seven game-winning tallies for league-leading Norfolk heading into the final weekend of the regular season. He has recorded a point in 51 of his 72 games played, with the Admirals showing a 40-11-0-0 record in those contests, and has a plus/minus rating of plus-13 along with 110 penalty minutes for the year. The 22-year-old native of Burlington, Ont., represented Norfolk at the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic (where he tallied 2-1-3 in the All-Star Game) and was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team and AHL Second All-Star Team for 2011-12.

Undrafted out of Canisius College, Conacher signed an AHL contract with Norfolk following training camp and inked a two-year NHL deal with Tampa Bay on Mar. 1.